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Southwest Pasta Salad is bold, creamy, and packed with fresh flavor. Rotini pasta gets tossed with a smoky chipotle ranch dressing, crisp southwestern vegetables, beans, and cheddar cheese. It is the perfect make-ahead dish for cookouts, potlucks, or barbecues. Every bite has a little heat, a little crunch, creamy texture, and a lot of flavor.
If you want a protein heavy option for this southwest salad – without pasta – try this Creamy Southwest Chicken Salad.
Southwest Pasta Salad Recipe
This easy southwest pasta salad is a colorful, flavorful side dish loaded with tender pasta, black beans, fire-roasted corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, and cheese smothered in a creamy zesty southwest-inspired dressing.
With a delicious combination of creamy, crunchy, sweet, and savory ingredients – this southwest pasta salad is anything but boring. The best part? It can be made ahead of time, making it an easy addition to any summertime gathering. The flavors actually get better and better with some refrigeration time!
Why You’ll Love This Southwest Pasta Salad
- Easy To Make : Most of the ingredients simply need to be chopped, or cans opened and drained, and then tossed together.
- Full of Flavor : A tangy southwest dressing brings everything together – the dressing has flavors of fresh lime, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (adjust as needed for spice level), ranch seasoning, and creamy mayo + greek yogurt.
- Make-Ahead Friendly : Prepare it a few hours ahead so the flavors have time to blend.
- Customizable : Swap out certain ingredients for ones you love. Such as the beans, corn, color of bell peppers used, the cheese, and spice level.
Ingredients Needed
Southwest Dressing Ingredients
- Mayonnaise
- Plain Greek Yogurt
- Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce : This is a canned item and you just want to pick out 1-2 peppers with whatever sauce is on them from the can.
- Ranch Seasoning Packet
- Lime : Juiced
Southwest Pasta Salad Ingredients
- Rotini Pasta
- Bell Peppers : Use any color(s) you want! I love using red, orange, or yellow bell peppers.
- Black Beans : Drained and rinsed
- Fire-Roasted Corn : Drained
- Cherry Tomatoes : Cut in half
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Red Onion : One small onion finely diced
- Jalapeño : Remove the white membrane and seeds for little to no heat, or leave it all in for a medium or high heat.
- Fresh Chopped Cilantro
How To Make Southwest Pasta Salad (Printable Recipe Card)
In a large pot, over high heat, boil water and cook the rotini pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse the pasta under cold water when it’s done. Set aside for later.
In a blender, add all of the southwest dressing ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour it into a large mixing bowl or serving bowl.
Add the cooked rotini, bell peppers, black beans, corn, cherry tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro into the large bowl of dressing.
Stir everything together until it’s well combined.
Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Or you can refrigerate for up to 4-6 hours to help the flavors develop even more (the longer it sits in the fridge, the more the pasta and ingredients will absorb the dressing so it won’t be as creamy).
Serve the pasta salad chilled from the fridge, and enjoy!
How To Store Leftover Pasta Salad
Leftover should be stored in the bowl covered, or you can transfer individual servings to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Stir before serving to ensure everything is evenly coated in the sauce, as it can settle to the bottom of the dish. You may also want to add some additional mayo, lime juice, and/or greek yogurt to make it creamy again if it had gotten soaked up too much while in the fridge.
Pro Tips From The Test Kitchen
- Sour cream can be used instead of plain greek yogurt if wanted.
- If you want a more mild dressing and salad here are some options – take out the seeds and membrane of the jalapeño before chopping, omit the jalapeño entirely, or only use 1 chipotle pepper or even half of one. The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are the “spiciest” ingredient so I would start by only using 1 or half of one if you want to cut the spice but still have that southwest zesty flavor in the dressing.
- To make the pasta salad spicier here are some options – use more chipotle peppers + adobo sauce in the dressing, leave the seeds in the jalapeño, use shredded pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar cheese, or try adding some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper into the dressing mixture.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found near the canned diced green chilies and canned jalapeños. No need to drain the can, instead just pull out 1-2 chipotle peppers + whatever sauce is on them, and add that into the bender. If you want spicier then use more peppers and sauce. Less spice, only use half or 1 chipotle pepper and not as much sauce. Or another option is to just use some of the adobo sauce and no chipotle peppers in the dressing.
More Pasta Salad Recipes You’ll Love
- Coleslaw Pasta Salad
- Pesto Pasta Salad
- Deviled Egg Pasta Salad
- Tri Color Pasta Salad
- Easy Italian Pasta Salad
- Poppy Seed Chicken Pasta Salad
- Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
Southwest Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 box (16 oz) rotini pasta
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 packet (1 oz) ranch dressing seasoning
- 2 limes juiced
- 2 bell peppers finely diced
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans drained & rinsed
- 1 can (14.75 oz) fire-roasted corn drained
- 1 package (10 oz) cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 small red onion finely diced
- 1 jalapeño deseeded & finely diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- In a large pot, over high heat, boil water and cook the rotini pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse the pasta under cold water when it's done. Set aside for later.* Be sure and salt the boiling water before adding the pasta in – I use about 2 teaspoons of kosher salt for boiling pasta.1 box (16 oz) rotini pasta
- In a blender, add all of the southwest dressing ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour it into a large mixing bowl or serving bowl.1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup plain greek yogurt, 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, 1 packet (1 oz) ranch dressing seasoning, 2 limes
- Add the cooked rotini, bell peppers, black beans, corn, cherry tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro into the large bowl of dressing.2 bell peppers, 1 can (15 oz) black beans, 1 can (14.75 oz) fire-roasted corn, 1 package (10 oz) cherry tomatoes, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 small red onion, 1 jalapeño, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- Stir everything together until it's well combined.
- Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.*Or you can refrigerate for up to 4-6 hours to help the flavors develop even more (the longer it sits in the fridge, the more the pasta and ingredients will absorb the dressing so it won't be as creamy).
- Serve the pasta salad chilled from the fridge, and enjoy!
Notes
- Sour cream can be used instead of plain greek yogurt if wanted.
- If you want a more mild dressing and salad here are some options – take out the seeds and membrane of the jalapeño before chopping, omit the jalapeño entirely, or only use 1 chipotle pepper or even half of one. The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are the “spiciest” ingredient so I would start by only using 1 or half of one if you want to cut the spice but still have that southwest zesty flavor in the dressing.
- To make the pasta salad spicier here are some options – use more chipotle peppers + adobo sauce in the dressing, leave the seeds in the jalapeño, use shredded pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar cheese, or try adding some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper into the dressing mixture.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found near the canned diced green chilies and canned jalapeños. No need to drain the can, instead just pull out 1-2 chipotle peppers + whatever sauce is on them, and add that into the bender. If you want spicier then use more peppers and sauce. Less spice, only use half or 1 chipotle pepper and not as much sauce. Or another option is to just use some of the adobo sauce and no chipotle peppers in the dressing.
Nutrition
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